I just transformed...

[evenstaves]

SS86 Ironhide, reluctantly I suppose this is gonna beat out the ER 2-pack Ironhide, it’s pretty damn good
Transforming to van, I’m having lots of trouble snapping the van front roof onto the leg panels, doesn’t help that a ton of the pieces are clear plastic - eventually gave up on that due to don’t want to stress/destroy the clear plastic… which I suppose is a pretty big flaw
Otherwise he looks great in bot mode - wish that face wasn’t so “default settings” tho, at least ERhide’s face has a splash of personality

Legacy TM2 “red dragon” Megatron, DAMN what a beast
A leader class that feels like one!
I have to agree with statements I’ve read online, pics really don’t do this guy justice - his new dragon forearms are super pose-able, in fact I dare say he’s more pose-able in total than the original BW TM2 incarnation, of course at the sacrifice of gimmicks
Worst thing about mine is he has a great big paint QA blotch right on his nose, but I figure the DNA kit with those 3 extra faces will make up for it (no issues with the face in and of itself, it’s cool in a TMNT toothy grimace kind of way)

[CyberDragon10K]

I spent yesterday installing a new GPU and setting up a new 1440p monitor so I shuffled a lot of stuff off the table top. Ended up transforming my BW Grimlock when I noticed the nylon/joint plastics had yellowed. He's still solid otherwise (minus an his right chest/back hip panel not wanting to seat properly in raptor mode). Was about to transform Skywarp fully but then I remembered mine doesn't like tabbing the thighs in for bird mode, so I reversed course.

[evenstaves]

Originally Posted by CyberDragon10K

BW Grimlock when I noticed the nylon/joint plastics had yellowed. He's still solid otherwise

Same here, it’s a shame but what ya gonna do
I still like him

[Marcotron]

I bought on clearance, the cyberverse Snarl from Walmart, for my kid.
He's so happy to have his own dinobot.
The only problem is, the back half of the dino is a giant piece of soft very flexible plastic. Which means, he can't peg in the two little pegs himself.
Such a great looking figure that a kid can't do, because he'll never be able to move that soft plastic into the exact right place.
Doesn't Hasbro product test these things on kids?

[The 12th Prime]

Originally Posted by Marcotron

I bought on clearance, the cyberverse Snarl from Walmart, for my kid.
He's so happy to have his own dinobot.
The only problem is, the back half of the dino is a giant piece of soft very flexible plastic. Which means, he can't peg in the two little pegs himself.
Such a great looking figure that a kid can't do, because he'll never be able to move that soft plastic into the exact right place.
Doesn't Hasbro product test these things on kids?

Unfortunately not it seems.

I just transformed Legacy MotorMaster from cab to robot, pretty intuitive I did not use instructions which is always satisfying.

Hey Hasbro need an exclusive repaint idea? Give us Canadian Tire MotorMaster for Christmas when they sell toys there. A nice way to make another corporate friend and a few more fans.

[evenstaves]

Transformed everyone from the recent Pulse sale

Selects Magnificus, if you have 86 Perceptor you know what to expect, he’s exactly the same
New face is cool, only complaints is a couple scuffs on the chest “dish” plate’s paint

SG Flamewar, I attempted this with my 1st copy, but previously duplicate parts prevented transformation, this time we are all good (and a noted highlight of a properly assembled figure? Realized that on my 1st copy, I didn’t know the bike had a muffler - it was on the side that was an incorrect duplicate of the other, natch)
My 1st time transforming the Legacy PrimeArcee mold, and I’ve got to say, it was challenging to figure out, 1st time in a while I gave up & followed the instructions - transformation is pretty damned tricky, and while it’s relatively rewarding to have finally completed the motorbike, the shapely thighs & upper arms still make this thing look like a mangled woman
Previously thought my 1st copy had paint scratches on the nippletips due to (idk, parts dragged across the floor in the manufacturing plant?), but now that I’ve done a full transformation, seems like those edges go hard against the back of the knees/calves, seems like a problematic zone for scratch damage regardless - if you’ve got a pristine Flamewar, I might avoid transformation, I figure those tips scratches are just a matter of time
All that said, the flame deco & colours are pretty cool
(energon half moon disc weapons are lame, supposed to be a big shuriken? But ofc can’t have those dangerous pointy tips on a kids product)
And red Pteraxadon is whatever, a pointless inclusion that only serves to grow my ptero-axe army

SG Slicer & Exosuit, I really like these
Transforming Slicer, a couple parts “didn’t go easy” (one of the ankle tilts didn’t want to settle back nicely, and tabbing the arms into place was rough, with the 2nd one feeling like it might pop out at a hair’s breadth), but that deco is f*cking gorgeous, and looks really slick in his alt mode - couple of sloppy paint apps surrounding the blue square on his chest, and a tiny bubble or two in his big bronze mug, but I’m sure that’s just my copy
The new weapons are pretty cool, with a weird joint in each because they peg into his alt mode’s butt and… curve around? It’s weird, but they’re new sculpted weapons, and one is double barrelled, so whatever, I like em - again my copy has some sloppy paint QA on the shoulder missile

Now Exosuit, this is honestly the big reason for this set for me - I love the mix & match element of the weaponizers, and this MFer rockin the red, black & pink deco is absolutely insane, looks great
Unfortunately my copy appears to have one or two spots of pre-stressed plastic, and not even restricted to peg/ports? One is just on like, a corner of a surface, looks weird like it was thrown against a wall - oh well, I’d probably sooner buy a 2nd copy anyways for more weaponizer parts

SG Blaster & Rewind, sculpt/accessories are exactly the same as Kingdom/Legacy Blaster so I’ll limit to just what’s different, the deco
Boy oh boys is that deep, rich purple they used, ever gorgeous! It’s so purple it’s almost BLACK, a shade we don’t normally see - and I could be wrong, but feels like it’s the actual molded plastic’s colour (doesn’t appear to be painted)
His actual face is painted so black, that it actually washes out his (lack of an) expression; it’s a shame they didn’t use the smirking face variant on this one, you’d think the evil version would have it?
Rewind is fine I guess, the forearm “blocks” are painted and all white, so I’d be slightly concerned about that chipping over time
The paint QA on his face is like, the ONLY paint QA on this whole figure/set for me, which I’m gonna chalk up to “thank god it’s only this”

SG UltraMagnus, YES, what a beast!
That new bone warriors skeleton man face helmet is the f*ckin BEST - I think a lot of promo/stock shots catch this thing dead on from the front, doesn’t really capture how cool this head is
The head swap for a proper CHUG DeltaMagnus is pretty inspired, though ofc depend how much you like/dislike the Kingdom Magnus mold - having acquired (SiegeMagnus, GalaxyOP, NetflixMangus) already, the parts-swapping playability only increases the more variants you have, imo
It’s a shame they ditched the dual leg guns in favour of that stupid f*cking sword - if you detach the blade from that dumb jointed “ball” handle, the blade’s hilt has a nub on it (designed to be held by LazerOP’s open-articulated hands), this means SG Magnus can’t even hold the smaller sword! You HAVE to have that stupid ball blade attached, espec when trying to attach it somewhere on the alt mode! So stupid - give me that pair of big boxy leg guns anyday

[evenstaves]

Evolution core Slag & Sludge, personally I think these are fun
Slag is definitely better, has an accessory and decent poseability (no elbows tho) - Sludge suffers a lot from having to be the “core” of the combiner, and it’s super obvious
But they’re cute little doofs, that I think would be fun to pose with the SS86 leaders
I really like the combined Volcanicus torso - it channels CW Motormaster once you’ve attached the Perfect Effect torso “girdle” that forces him into a really actually smart lookin… torso - LISTEN IT JUST LOOKS GREAT OK
All we need now is to find out that the legs suck; gonna get dat Grimlock this summer

Legacy Armada Starscream, just did a quick transformation this morning but he seems cool enough - beats the hell outta that old Generations one for sure
For someone who didn’t give a sh*t about Armada in the heyday, with this & HotShot I’m on the way to having a small collection of them, it would seem
Bit concerned about the sliding shoulder parts, how the arms are supposed to slide in & out under the shoulder pauldrons during transformation? One of my arms was really sloppy loose on that slider right out the box, we’ll see how much that affects poseability down the line
It’s a real shame about his wing blade, that they didn’t even try - and the electro sword is just stupid kibble

[evenstaves]

SS86 Snarl, just no-instructions’d this guy earlier this morning
Overall he’s pretty cool, couple nitpicks:
- the initially-detached spine paneling that covers the bot face? With two pairs of stego spine plates on em - my copy has one of the plates very visibly warped out of synch with the others
- the sword appears to be soft plastic, got a similar “warping slightly” effect going on
- one of his front Dino feet, when converting from bot to Dino, and it’s all folded up inside his forearm? One of mine kept popping off at the Dino-ankle; had to make sure it was attached, but ALSO pegged in that tiny peg on top the yellow foot, to be able to finally successfully pull it out without popping off
- the Dino head, being bifurcated due to half & halfing in each leg, the silver paint that’s on the inside of the bot legs? It shows up a bit right down the middle of the Dino face, a minor nitpick but I wish it was a cleaner face
- minor paint dings, but honestly less than normal - if I can overcome the warpings myself, this copy should be fine

Also transformed SG Slicer & Exosuit again
Goddamnit I love that Slicer deco, im starting to not care about his previously reported paint bubbling
I want to get a couple of CW Breakdown big black Bowie knife guns and have him dual wield them - I guess I could jack the blades from PrimeDarkEnergonWheejack, but they’re soft plastic! I don’t wanna
Starting to edge out my opinion that Exosuit is the reason for the set - he’s cool too, but re-fiddling I’m starting to feel the limitations of ER Fasttrack mold
(and absolutely f*ck Hasbork’s suggestion that Exosuit could be Slicer’s actionmaster vehicle - it’s a stupid idea, I was sold already just cause of the hot deco, no need to embarrass us all)

[evenstaves]

War Dawn 2-pack!

Ariel, for me it’s the best use of that terrible mold so far
Face is good, helmet profile silhouette with the ponytail is amazing, got some open claws instead of enclosed fists (hope they don’t break)
Similar to SG Flamewar, I’d be concerned about chipping paint off the chest/pelvic-plate/thighs with multiple transformations

Dion, nothing makes this particularly better than HiB OrionPax
Ya he’s got those two boxy backpack dags, but whatever? I guess they could make a big fat double barrel gun; idk this mold is a pain in the *ss to transform, and this iteration doesn’t change that at all
Plus his stupid arms keep falling off, damn mold

[wervenom]

Magic Square MS-02EX Light of Peace. Not bad.